Meter



| A. LE IS Sept. 16, 1930.

llE'l'ER Filed Jan. 1'7, 1929 l l I 3% s w v R E 03 L. m w vm r sY v e v A L .indicate the keel angle of Patented Sept. 16, 1930 a uNrrEo STATES PATENro ic LESTER A. LEWIS, or BEACON, ivEvvYYoRx METER] Application filed January 17, 1929. ser al No; 333,1 4.-

; ranged for the control of an electrical cir cuit in response to predetermined inclination of the structure upon which it is mounted. Other objects of the present invention include the combination and interrelation of :parts whereby the whole forms a simple and efliicient apparatus well suited to the demands of economic manufacture. 7 7

Numerous other objects and features of the present invention will be apparent from aconsideration of the following specification the accompanying taken in connection with drawings, in which Figure 1 is a perspective view of one form of the present invention; v

Fig. 2 is a sectional view taken on the lines 2-2 of Fig. 1 r w Fig. 3 is a side elevation of that form of the invention shown in Fig. 1, shown in angular position.

Referring more particularly'to-the drawings, the invention includes a base 10, which is preferably formed of sponge rubber and within which the indicating tube, as will be hereinafter described, is embedded; "The tube may be secured and embedded in the base 10 in any desire manner. For instance, the

tube may be inserted during the manufacture of the base, or if preferred the tube may be secured in an opening in the base by cement,

as or b any other means. will beunderstood that the base 10 may beformed of any desired materialg the sponge rubberabove re ferred to being preferable in that it provides the maximum" of cushioning against "vibra tion, and thus protect the indicating tube so that vibrations which would effect inaccuracies vin the reading, will not be transmitted; thereto. Thebase l0 is preferablyrectangular in configuration as illustrated," and may be arranged for association witha vehicle in any desired manner. Y Y I Within thebase 10, anindicatingtube '11 is provided, preferably ring-shaped and round 1n cross "section.- The tube ll'is preferably formed of transparent material, such as glass,

the lower portion of; the tube- 11 being embedded within-the'base '10, theembedded portion? being preferably less than 1one=half the tube so that the indicating "materialjthere in will'at'alltimes j tending-r portion thereof It will be understood, however, thatthejtube 11 may be i formed of i any desired tiansparent'material and that v configuration than the, round cross 'seo'tion illustrated, The'tube 11*ishollow to pro? vide an internal'annularhollow chamber extendingb'oth within'andwithout the base 10.

F or -indicating the measure of the, inclination of-the vehicle uponwhich the'base lQis mounted, the "upper half of the tube 11 is provided with indicia112,preferably divided the cross-section may be of other be visible within'the ex I intodeg'reesythe median portion on one side i I i being marked 0 while the opposite median- 1 portion is marked, 180?, the intermediate indiciabeingsub'edivided" therebetwee'np It willbe readily understood that" the indicia may be etched upon {the surfaced the tube Y H orin ,anyother desired manner of theindiciato the tube may be utilized. 1;

For indicating the inclination of the st ruc ture, an indicating medium 13 is provided within thetube 11, the arrangement being such that as shown in Fig. 3, departure of" the base 10 from the' horizontal will effect V V in) n r on deeply colored, non-volubleand non-freezing substance, which is adapted to flow freely under various temperature conditions,

It will be understood that the present invention may be readily adapted for controli I 1 i ling an electrical signal circuit by the pro; H vision of a conducting fluid medium within the tube and suitably arranged electrodes eX-T tending within the tube andbeing arranged for bridgment by the conducting fiuidfin such a manner that inclination of the appfa i ratus; will completel an electrical circuit through theemedium 13 to energize the de-I J slred slgnal;

In theoperation of theldevice, the base 10 is adapted for mounting on any; desired structure. and is preferablyadapted for use in connectionwith land,-wat er or .air vehicles. Thesetting-of the device is-such-that when the Vehicle is in itsnormal horizontal,

position, both surfaces of the mediumlifiare visible and correspond, respectively, with the 0- and 180? readings of the indicia 12.

ltlwillbe readily seen that departure from rubber base, an annulartubular member positioned within said base, a portion of said tubular member extending therefrom, and fluid medium Within said tubular member and filling one half of the same, the extending portion of said tubular member bearing indicia, whereby movement of said fluid within said tubular member in response to movement of said base, will register the angle of inclination of said base.

LESTER A. LEVIS.

the horizontal, as shown in Fig. will cause Y the fluid to pass around the tube,- -;wherebyif one surface will be within the tube 10'while the other surface will be adjacent the indicium which corresponds to the angularinclinationfof the mounting. It will beun derstood that a plurality of such devices; I may bQ-lltlllZQd to vindicate-both the rolling V angleand the pitching angleof the vehicle. c In such arrangements, the devices. willbeare 'rangedso that their tubes ll are inpla'neszdisposed at right anglesto each other.

Having thus described my inventiongit;

will'beapparent that numerous changes and indicia to a modifications in .the structural-details, land the fulluse of equivalents maybe resorted to WltllQllb departing from thespirit or -scope of the invention as outlinedin theappended claims. T-

W a is medis 9 1. An inclinometer,comprising a shock absorbing rectangular,v base, an annular; tu'- bular member mounted, in said b'ase and hav-:

ing a portion ep tending therefrom and bear- 7, 111g ind1c1a,' and fiu1d ndicating medium;

Within. i a ubul r memb w ereby; it

movements therein will co ,operate -wit h, said regi tert 1 ng r, P lfilQ i-o s said base;

ama e; nc ding pe s r-"a 

